


It's the season (for love and understanding)

by frostysunflowers



Series: simply having a wonderful christmas time [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, Christmas Shopping, Domestic Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is a menace, flash thompson is a good bro, have yourself a hailing and frosty christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:20:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27998895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frostysunflowers/pseuds/frostysunflowers
Summary: "Oh, would you two stop bickering like a pair of old ladies? How Pepper has managed to put up with this for so long is beyond me."The sound of May’s fond scolding has Peter immediately ducking down behind the nearest display shelves, motioning for Bucky to join him. The man rolls his eyes but obligingly crouches down, leaning his back against the shelves."Flash, get down!""What the hell are you doing?" Flash whispers loudly, kneeling awkwardly by Peter’s side."Hiding from May. I don’t want her to catch me with this," Peter whispers back as he taps the juicer box. "We gotta get outta here."orPeter hits a stumbling block in his attempt to buy a Christmas gift for May.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Flash Thompson, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: simply having a wonderful christmas time [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041610
Comments: 20
Kudos: 232





	It's the season (for love and understanding)

**Author's Note:**

> Tis meee again with more ridiculous Christmas shenanigans. Hope you enjoy!

"You said we were going bowling."

"We are."

"I’m old, pal, but I’m not senile. This," Bucky gestures to the building in front of them, "is not bowling."

"We _are_ gonna go bowling," Peter insists sincerely. "And you’re not old!"

He means it too. With freshly cut hair, a simple dress code of a thick sheepskin jacket, white t-shirt and dark jeans, complete with red scarf, Bucky looks like a typical guy in his late thirties at the very most. Nothing, not even the peak of silver fingers from out of his left sleeve gives away that he is in fact a hundred and something year old legend who woke up at the crack of dawn to unknowingly help Peter do his Christmas shopping. 

Bucky sweeps his gaze pointedly around their surroundings, taking in the early morning crowd already milling in and out of the nearby stores that make up a small part of the mall they’re currently standing outside of. "Sam said I was a dumbass for listening to you when I left this morning. Said nobody with a lick of sense goes bowling this early on a weekend."

"He’s just jealous. You sleep on his couch again?"

"Yeah, and if I’d known this is what you were dragging me all the way out of Washington for, I’d have stayed there. Fell asleep watching some documentary about fish last night and I wanna see the rest."

"Was it the one with the squid that eat each other?"

Bucky pulls a face. "Thought I’d dreamt that part."

"In my defence,'' Peter shrugs,'' I didn’t know you were there when I texted you last night."

Bucky waves a hand. "Why sleep when I could take a four drive to see you instead," he adds sarcastically, giving Peter a playful shove. "Besides, Sam wanted his couch back."

"Even though you’re gonna end up on it again in like a week?"

"What can I say, it’s a comfy couch."

They’ve started walking into the building while they talk, shoulders brushing as they mix in with the other sleepy eyed, coffee buzzed shoppers. The entire place is decked out in Christmas decorations, giant lights and oversized baubles and snowflakes dangling above their heads while a jazz cover of _White Christmas_ croons sultry tones into the air. It’s a bit much on the senses this early in the day and Peter finds himself wincing, a dull pulsing making itself known at the base of his skull. 

Bucky’s hand gently touches his shoulder. "Let’s grab some breakfast. I’m starved."

Peter doesn’t argue and follows Bucky towards the nearest source of food, which just so happens to be a _Cheesecake Factory_. They grab a booth over by one of the large windows and Peter quickly orders two orange juices and two large plates of pancakes with extra bacon before Bucky can even take off his jacket. 

"What’s the rush?" Bucky asks, unwinding his scarf. "You on the clock?"

"Sorta. I gotta get May’s gift before they all sell out."

"What you buying her?"

"A juicer."

Bucky blinks. "A juicer," he repeats slowly. 

"Yeah...you know, you stick fruit in it and it - "

"I know what a juicer is, punk," Bucky scoffs, flicking a packet of sugar at him from the bowl on the side of the table. "I meant why are you buying her a juicer for a damn Christmas present."

Peter shrugs. "She saw one on an infomercial a while ago, and she’s on some kinda health kick where she keeps making these gross green drinks, and there’s some on sale right now in _Macy’s_ so I figured I’d get one for her."

Bucky nods, clearly trying to fight off a laugh. Peter throws the packet of sugar back at him, hitting his chin. A nearby couple glance over disapprovingly and Peter has to look out the window to hold in his own laughter. As he does so, his eyes land on three people, two men and a woman, walking into the mall, one of the men gesturing vigorously while the other two laugh and shake their heads. 

"What the hell…" Peter presses up against the glass, blinking hard to see if he’s imagining it, but nope, that is definitely Tony, May and Rhodey about to walk past them. "Oh, crap - hide!" he hisses at Bucky, turning his own head to face away from the window, arm up at an awkward angle like some sort of shield. 

After a minute, he twists his head back round to find that Bucky hasn’t moved an inch and is simply watching Peter with an amused smirk. 

"Did they see us?"

"Amazingly, no." Bucky leans back as the waitress appears with the order, giving her a smile. "Thanks." He takes a sip of his juice and gestures for Peter to tuck in.

"Why are they here," Peter says, picking up his knife and fork and cutting into the stack of syrup-drizzled pancakes. "They don’t hang out at places like this." He looks up at Bucky. "Do they?"

"Hell if I know," Bucky mumbles around a mouthful of bacon. "Friends go shopping, right?"

"Well, yeah, but _they_ don’t do that."

"Maybe they’re shaking it up a little."

Peter chews his food thoughtfully, trying to make sense of what he’s just seen. Of course he knows that there’s a close friendship between Tony and May, something that exists outside of their connection to him, and Rhodey is just as much as part of that as Pepper and Happy are, but Peter has never truly seen any of this out in the wild before. It’s nearly always been in places where he is too, a witness to the chaos that seems more normal with each passing day. Well, except for the time he found May and Tony sharing a couple of pot brownies during the later stages of Tony’s recovery. 

"It’s for medicinal purposes," Tony had said while May giggled into her hands. "I’m trying to wean myself off those hideous meds, and your aunt here kindly offered to be my emotional support brownie buddie."

It had been a little bit hilarious, especially when the two of them had dozed off midway through a conversation about whether Harrison Ford was sexier as Indy or Han, though Peter does consider himself a little bit mentally scarred from the experience, and the strange feeling of disgruntled confusion he’d felt then comes flooding back as he pictures Tony, May and Rhodey helping each other choose clothes or pick out towels together. 

"It’s weird," he finally grumbles to Bucky. 

Bucky studies him for a moment as he eats, then snorts. _"You’re_ weird."

"And it’s annoying.

Peter doesn’t believe him for a second. Parker Luck is not that kind. If May spots them as soon as they walk out the door, he won’t be surprised. 

But amazingly, they finish their breakfast and manage to make it to one of the escalators and up to the first floor without a problem. Peter suspects that Bucky’s distinctive walk, a strong kind of strut that seems so out of kilter with the quiet, easy nature Peter knows him for, has something to do with how quickly they move through the crowds. Still, that doesn’t stop Peter’s eyes flicking rapidly in every direction as they head towards _Macy’s_ , his body poised and ready to dive for cover at any moment. 

Bucky elbows him in the ribs. "Knock it off."

"Sorry, I just - you know what Mister Stark’s like. And May’s sneaky, you know?"

"Yeah, you told me about how she found you in your suit that time."

"Exactly!"

Bucky rolls his eyes. "C’mon, before they run out of juicers."

Peter hates _Macy’s_. It’s too bright and everything smells like it’s been doused in old flowery perfume. Giant SALE signs hang all over the place, a tasteless blood red against the fluorescent backdrop, and people swarm around every display and counter like hungry locusts. 

Eyeing the scenery with obvious displeasure, Bucky asks, "You couldn’t have ordered this thing on the internet?"

"The sale is in-store only."

Bucky sighs. "The future is ridiculous."

"Technically, it’s not the future," Peter shrugs. "Five minutes ago, this moment would have been the future, but now - hey!" he leaps away with a laugh as Bucky takes a predictable swipe at his head. "I’m just kidding."

"We still haven’t got the damn juicer yet, punk, so my point still stands. Five minutes from now me is gonna be wanting to kick five minutes from now you’s ass." 

Peter squints at him. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"After all this time - After I introduced you to _Star Wars?_ That’s cold, man." 

Bucky’s answering laugh is soft but fond. "Yeah, whatever. C’mon."

When they reach the homeware section, Peter races around the area full of kitchen supplies, moving aside the odd remaining boxes containing toasters and blenders, reaching into the backs of shelving units, growing more frantic by the second. 

"Oh my god, what if they don’t have any - they can’t have sold out already, c’mon, come on - "

Bucky peers at the higher shelves against the wall and shakes his head. "Guess everybody else is on a health kick too."

"See? This is ‘cause you tempted fate. Get in, get out, that’s what you said," Peter rants. "You turned the universe against us."

"Yep, that’s what I did."

Peter buries his face into his hands with a loud groan. "Why is this happening to me?"

"Jeez, Parker," a familiar voice says, "you’re always such a drama queen."

Peter looks up to find Flash standing in front of him, holding two slightly battered boxes. "I was gonna get these but here," Flash pushes one of the boxes into Peter’s arms, "you can have one."

"Really?" Peter looks at the picture of the juicer on the box, near identical to the one in the infomercial, and a giant and very relieved grin spreads across his face. "Dude, you just saved my Christmas. Thanks!"

"It’s cool. I was just gonna donate them to a couple of shelters. Do my bit to help out, you know." Flash considers the box still in his hands. "Actually, a microwave would be better, right? Or a toaster…" His words trail off as he notices Bucky standing nearby and his eyes blow wide in surprise. 

"Oh! Flash, this is Bucky. Bucky, this is Flash, a friend from school."

"Flash? From your Europe trip?" Bucky asks.

"T-that’s me, sir, Mister Barnes, uh - I helped with the whole, you know," Flash lifts one hand to imitate a spider walking through the air, "situation. I’m an official FOS."

"FOS?"

"Don’t," Peter says quickly before Flash can explain. "I still can’t believe you guys call yourself that."

Flash’s retort is quickly covered by Bucky hissing, "shh!" and gesturing somewhere over to the left. Peter frowns in bewilderment, then feels his body turn rigid as his ears zone in on some familiar voices heading in their direction. 

"C’mon, honeybear, I can just build you a juicer!"

"Tones, for the last time, you’re not building me one! After the bread maker incident, I don’t want you anywhere near my kitchen again."

"But you love Bertie - "

"Bertie is an asshole who doesn’t make bread properly!"

"Oh, would you two stop bickering like a pair of old ladies? How Pepper has managed to put up with this for so long is beyond me."

The sound of May’s fond scolding has Peter immediately ducking down behind the nearest display shelves, motioning for Bucky to join him. The man rolls his eyes but obligingly crouches down, leaning his back against the shelves. 

"Flash, get down!" 

"What the hell are you doing?" Flash whispers loudly, kneeling by Peter’s side. 

"Hiding from May. I don’t want her to catch me with this," Peter whispers back as he taps the juicer box. "We gotta get outta here." 

Flash looks at him for a long moment, glances down at the box, then straightens his back, jaw set and eyes determined. "I got this, dude."

"Got what? What are you - Flash! Get down - "

May’s ongoing scolding of a still squabbling Tony and Rhodey shifts into a surprised exclaim of, "Eugene Thompson, is that you?" as Flash pops up into view. 

"Oh, hi, Mrs Parker,"’ Flash replies, overly surprised. "Fancy seeing you here. Mister Stark, Colonel Rhodes, nice to see you again."

Peter gapes up at him. He knows that despite the bravado, Flash is the opposite of what most people believe. Friendly, funny, ruthless when it came to keeping May away from the washing up that time he came over for dinner with Ned and MJ. But this right here, the way Flash is is standing there, perfectly casual, giving nothing away? This is something else entirely. 

"How’s it going, Blaze," Tony says, causing Bucky to snort quietly. "Doing some Christmas shopping? Aw, Rhodey, looks like he got the last juicer. Bummer."

"Oh, no, I was gonna put this back and grab some toasters instead, you can have this," Flash offers, holding out the box while simultaneously nudging Peter’s knee with his foot. "I’m more of a sparkling water kinda guy."

As the bickering starts up again, Bucky grabs Peter’s sleeve and tugs, the pair of them shuffling around the side of the display, Peter clutching the box awkwardly to his side with one arm. 

"So," May says loudly to Flash over Tony and Rhodey, "Peter invited you to the after Christmas party, didn’t he?"

"Yeah! I’ll be there. I’m giving the others a ride, so."

"Tony!" Rhodey practically yells. "If you don’t shut up, your head is gonna end up in one of these toasters!"

"Go!" Bucky grunts over his shoulder and Peter immediately darts after him, crossing over to the next display unit. Keeping low to the ground, they hide behind two more stacks of miscellaneous kitchen equipment, Peter barely managing to avoid knocking over a few strainers and saucepans as he slides across the floor, until they reach the small tower of boxed kettles and coffee makers stacked close to the register. 

Peeking over the top, Peter sees Flash still holding the juicer, nodding at something May is saying while Rhodey rubs wearily at his forehead as Tony continues to rant about Rhodey not letting him build things. With Bucky following close behind, Peter takes his chance and races over to the register. The bored looking cashier, clearly a pro when it comes to working retail during the holidays, processes the purchase within twenty seconds and then they’re out the door, down the escalator, through the crowds and onto the street. 

Leaning against the nearest wall, Peter meets Bucky’s gaze for all of two seconds before the man starts laughing; a deep, rumbling chuckle that makes his entire body shake and creates little white puffs of breath in the frigid air. 

"Shut up, man," Peter says with a weak laugh of his own. "That was not fun."

"Speak for yourself. Aren’t you meant to be light on your feet? You and that stack of saucepans nearly blew the whole thing."

"Don’t judge me by your super soldier standards, okay? You’ve got like eighty years of experience on me."

"If you ask me, you got a dud deal when they were handing out superpowers."

Peter resists the urge to flip him off and sighs loudly. "I’m just glad that’s over with."

"You and me both." Bucky agrees. "Remind me to never say yes when you ask me to go anywhere again."

"Aw, but what about bowling?"

"Yeah, what _about_ bowling?"

Peter laughs again. "If it makes you feel better, I still haven’t got a clue what to get MJ for a gift."

"Why would that make me feel better?" Bucky asks as they start to walk along the street. "Sounds like more shit for you to bug me with." 

"Like you won’t bug me about what to buy Sam."

"He’ll get the pleasure of my company over Christmas dinner and that’s enough."

They pause to wait for a green light. Shifting the juicer around in his arms, Peter says, "I just don’t know how to top the necklace I got her in Italy."

"Set the bar too high, huh."

"Totally. I can’t get her another gift based on a murder, you know."

"Oh, absolutely not," Bucky deadpans as they cross the street with the rest of the crowd. 

"I just...want it to be special. Unique, like she is."

Bucky looks at him for a moment, eyes pinched thoughtfully at the corners. "I might have something. I’ll come by tomorrow with it."

"Really?" Peter says excitedly. "Cool, thanks."

"See, even after you call me an old man, I’m still nice."

"But you _are_ an old man."

"You wanna get a head start before I kick your ass?"

  
  


* * *

" - and don’t forget to get your clothes out of the - Oh! Sergeant Barnes!" May exclaims in surprise as she opens the front door the next morning, bag and coat clutched haphazardly in one of her hands. "Didn’t expect to see you this morning."

"You can just call me James, Mrs Parker," Bucky says politely. 

"I will," May steps aside to let him into the apartment, "when you call me May."

Peter, scarfing down a bowl of cereal in the kitchen, snorts at the conflicted look on Bucky’s face, though he quickly hides his grin behind another large spoonful when Bucky throws a narrow glare his way. 

Pointing a finger threateningly, May says, "Clothes, mister. If I come home and find so much as one sock left in that machine, Christmas won’t be so very merry, capiche?"

"Capiche,'' Peter agrees. 

"Oh, and please tell Eugene that if he wants to come shopping with me again, he’s more than welcome. I could do with a second opinion on some hand towels that doesn’t involve two ridiculous men arguing about who blew up what in college."

Groaning mostly for show, Peter waves her goodbye. He shovels the last few spoonfuls into his mouth, throws the bowl and spoon into the sink, then bounds over to Bucky’s side. "Did you bring it?"

"No," Bucky says, taking a seat, "I thought I’d leave it at home. Yes, you little punk, I brought it." He pulls a small package out of his pocket and carefully places it into Peter’s waiting hands. "Be careful. S’pretty old."

Slowly unwrapping the layers of thin tissue paper, Peter mutters a soft, "whoa," as something soft and silky touches his fingers. Setting the packaging down in his lap, Peter unravels the material until he’s holding a long scarf, shimmery grey and decorated with darker, slightly faded swirls of patterns that almost look like roses and - 

"Spiderwebs," Peter whispers. "Dude, how - this is awesome! Where did you find this?"

Bucky smiles softly. "It belonged to my mom."

"What?" Peter immediately holds the scarf out towards him. "No, I can’t take this, no way."

"Yeah, you can."

"No. I mean I’m totally grateful for the offer but this is special, you know?"

"MJ’s special to you, right?"

"Well...yeah."

"Then you’re taking it. It’s not like I’m gonna wear it, and I think my mom would wanna know it was being used by somebody worthwhile instead of sitting in my bedside cabinet forever."

Peter slowly weaves the scarf through and across his fingers thoughtfully. He thinks of when May gave away many of Ben’s things and how he’d been so angry about it at first, suddenly finding importance in every shirt and half read book sitting on the coffee table, but ultimately he’d come to accept that it was for the best. They’d kept the things that truly mattered or weren’t simply part of the overall apartment furniture, all carefully tucked away in a special box or ensconced within their own wardrobes: photo albums, old cassettes and records, a watch, a couple of soft flannel shirts for those days where missing him was just a bit too raw. 

Though Peter can’t imagine ever being able to give any of those things away, the sentiment doesn’t seem too alien anymore, but it’s still a surprise. 

"You - " Peter clears his throat roughly. "I didn’t think you had any stuff from, you know, before."

"Couple of my things got mixed up with Steve’s." Bucky points to the scarf. "Used to carry that in my pocket, all through the war. I think he borrowed it, not long before I fell, neither of us really remembers, and turns out it was in the pocket of one of his jackets that Howard Stark had stashed in his own personal Captain America memorabilia collection. After Tony made sure Steve got all his stuff back, Steve found it and kept it safe 'til I...well, you know the story.''

"That’s crazy," Peter murmurs. 

"You're telling me,'' Bucky smirks. "It was my mom’s favourite, she used to wear it all the time back when I was a kid. She was a mechanic in the first war and it kept her hair out of her face."

"She was a mechanic in the war?" Peter repeats, impressed and rapidly filling with excitement for how much he suddenly knows MJ is going to love this gift. "That’s awesome."

"Yeah, thought you’d think so," Bucky chuckles. "She was as fierce as any fella, prettier than any other woman even with grease all over her face."

"What was her name?"

Bucky’s face shifts into one much younger as it softens fondly, sadly. "Winnie."

Peter nods, not trusting himself to speak for a moment. He knows that repeatedly proclaiming his thanks will make Bucky feel uncomfortable pretty quickly, so instead he chooses to refold the scarf and place it carefully on the table, next to where a roll of wrapping paper and a pair of scissors sit, ready for use against the slightly battered box of May’s juicer later on. 

"MJ’s gonna love it," he eventually says. 

Bucky claps him on the shoulder. "Glad I could help, pal."

_You’re a mean one, Mister Grinch_ interrupts the quiet warmth that follows, Tony’s name lighting up Peter’s phone where it sits on the arm of the couch. 

"Hey, Mister Stark."

_"Did you buy me anything nice?"_

"Huh? Why would I have?"

_"Because of your little shopping trip yesterday."_

Peter twists to look over at where Bucky is now poking around in the kitchen, reading the back of Peter’s box of _Cap’n Crunch_ with a skeptical frown. "How did you - "

_"Clocked you waiting for your breakfast. Bucky waved. And that army crawl across the floor was impressive too."_

A grin spreads across Bucky’s face and he easily dodges the pillow that Peter launches his way, giving an innocent shrug as he throws a handful of cereal into his mouth. "What?"

"Why?" Peter almost yells.

"Because it was funny," Bucky says, completely unrepentant. 

"You suck. All of you absolutely suck."

_"Oh come on, kid, don’t be like that_ ," Tony laughs. _"’Tis the season to be jolly after all!"_

**Author's Note:**

> I nearly spent too much time trying to be overly accurate with what mall Peter and Bucky are at in this. It was going to be exactly the layout as Queens Center but then I really just couldn't be bothered haha, so it's just a generic mall now, imagine it how you like :) 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
